The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-11-20
SOME NEW BooKs.
TIE Most shanerni Period Of Essiish
H,-torv.

We hnye now before us n book interesting
I'm Itself and whose republication in an English
version has an interesting origin. 1tsoems that
not long ago I'm tho House OF Commons. Mr.. La
bouchere, In tho course OF discussion OF APP
r,r6priations, propounded this suggestive nues-
Hon: In reduital Of what service rendered to the
nation by his ancestors were British taxpayers
still called upon to give the Duke OF Richmond
Ma annual pension2 The question was not
answered but IL Is n curious fact that the
Government, frightened Mt the prospect OF
o,iious disclosures and "reminiscences, fastened
to commute the pension by making over to the
present Duke gross sum OF nearly
half q million sterling. To be sure, no
reader Of English history should be UNI
familiar with tho broad outlines OF the
transaction whereby the ducal title OF Rich
rtond and the huge pension mentioned were
made part OF tho wages OF woman's sin and
shame. Nor ought any one to need to be re-
minded tb at the degradation and betrayal OF
England throughout dark period OF fifteen
years was part OF tho voman's price. But most
Of the ugly facts had boon revealed to us by
siirmise innuendo. or fippant allusion in con-
Temporary correspondence and diaries. That
proof existed OF the French Governments rela-
ton to the repulsive business In which Louise
dc Kerouale was IN agent and beneficiary. was
often asserted and believed. but conclusive and
EXHAUSTIVE t6StlHlOuy Hdu Uoeu ihchiue. io1 IL
40 happened that about the time when Mr..
Labouchere was pressing his awkward inquiry
in the House OF Commons. the whole truth had
been uncovered by French student. M.
FonNEnoN, in n book compiled from the
State papers preserved in the archives Of the
French Foreign Office. There all, and more
than had been imputed or suspected. he found
certified under the hand and seal OF Louis
XIV, of his Ministers of State. and his ambas-
sailors to the court of Charles H. 1t is an
English version OF this striking book which is
now published by Scrbner X Wexford 1t must
DO owned that neither the original author nor
the translator has minced his words or In any
way attempted to tone down the plain and
crude terms in which great kings and foreign
secretaries were wont to portray facts in
the seventeenth century. And we arc in
rlined,' upon kthe whole. to agree with Mrs.
n. G. Crawford. who. while admitting in
her Introduction that in this book nothing
8 watered, expresses the conviction that
morality would not have been served by a
watering or Bowderizing process. Neverthe-
less, in drawing attention to some OF NJ. For
neron's revelations touching the source OF the
Duke OF Richmond's pension, We shall adapt
Our language to q somewhat more rigid stand
ard Of propriety.
Louise de Kerouale this. 1t seems, is the
right spelling Of the name) was the daughter
OF Breton family in straitened circumstances,
but OF sufficiently good birth to procure for
her the place OF maid Of honor to tho sister of
Charles H.. Henrietta. the wife OF the Duke of
Orleans. the brother OF Louis XIV. 1t was in
1870 that she came to London in the suite of
the Princess. whose mission WAS to overcome
her brothers reluctance to conclude an alliance
with France whereby. In consideration of n
large annual subsidy secretly paid to Charles
England was to,abandon her allies on the Con-
tinent and leave Holland and the low countries
ut the mercy Of their French neighbor. The
blonde Breton girl. who had the freshness OF
90. and whose baby face. pensive eyes. and Ian
guild walk did not betray the alertness and
adroitness of n diplomatic agent. made from
the outset n deep impression on the profligate
Charles. who was tired OF the furious temper
of the dark Castlemaine tancestress OF the
Dukes OF Grafton) and OF the vulgarity OF Nell
Gwynn from whom the Dukes Of st. Adams
are descended She had presently to return
to Franco with the Princess Henrietta, who
soon after died, but Charles having let the
French ambassador perceive the impression
made on him by his sisters maid OF honor. the
latter was packed of by the French Govern
mont to Calais, whittier an English yacht was
sent to convey her to Dover. She was at once
installed at Whitehall as maid OF honor to
her far less trouble than the mistress she was
destined to supplant. Barbara Palmer, Lady
Castlemaine. who was soon to be screated
Duchess OF Cleveland. In England Louise de
Kerouale remained till August 1855. return
ing to her native land Duchess of Portsmouth
in England and Of Aubigny in France. and
leaving behind her son who had been made
Duke Of Richmond and endowed with the 81 eat
pension by which his posterity still profit.
1t seems that the Breton girl was an honest
woman when she allowed herself to be selected
for the peculiar role assigned to her in Eng
land. and her coy capitulation to n royal rake
Is announced by an ambassador to Louis XIV.
with rs much citation and pomposty as If he
were chronicling the downfall OF q fortress in
Flanders. We have no intention of following
the author OF this narrative through the edify-
ing details OF this campaign. for. though they
may have been congenal topics OF discourse
for "a kings closet, they would defle decent
American home. We shall limit ourselves to
recording the work accomplishedfor the Grand
Monarch by the woman whom the boot
ings of the London popuace stigmatized
rs the French Miss" At the close of
the fteen years during which-with the OK
ception of brief term Of eclipse by an
other French subject, the Duchess Maza-
rln-Louise managed to maintain her scan
nets of Charles. Louis XIV. had acquired
Flanders. Alsace. the Franche Comic. and
louisiana and had brought Holland for a
short time within his grasp When Charles.
Still young In point OF years, was stricken down
by fatal stroke OF aDoplexy. and the reign of
his French mistress ended, Louis was upon the
eve Of dealing another blow which was to give
him solid supremacy, not only in Europe. but
In Asia, Africa. and America. 1t seemed that
In q few months moro Holland must be-
come French province, and all tho Dutch
colonies pass under the sway Of France.
The author Of the introduction to this
book Is justified In saying that had Charles
lived a few years longer. and Louise
dc Keroualle remained the virtual queen at
Whitehall. that greater Britain, wherein the
Irish Celt has full play for his activities, and
the Anglo-Saxon all the personal liberty he
wants must have fallen into the limbo OF the
could-not-have -beens 1t was a part of the
French scheme TO edge England out of North
America and, seeing that France held Canada
Ind the Mississippi valley, and had her hand
Hi a.,